ილია თოფურია (Ilia Topuria) is a Georgian-Spanish undefeated professional mixed martial artist currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. His fight name is El Matador.
BIOGRAPHY
Before joining the UFC, Topuria competed in West Coast Warriors, Climent MMA, Mix Fight Events, Cage MMA Finland, Cage Warriors Fighting Championship and BRAVE Combat Federation. He trains at Climent Club in Alicante, Valencia, Spain.
Topuria is 5’8″ tall and he holds a professional MMA record to 17 wins and 0 loss. He and his wife Giorgina Uzcategui Badell have a son and a daughter together.
Born in Halle Westfalen, Germany to Georgian parents, Topuria is a citizen of both Georgia and Spain. Here are 13 more things about him:
- In 2004, he and his parents moved from Germany to Georgia where he started practicing Greco-Roman wrestling at school.
- In 2012, he moved to Alicante and started practicing martial arts at the Climent Club in Alicante.
- From 2015 to 2021, he competed in the featherweight division.
- On April 4, 2015, he made his professional MMA debut.
- In 2018, he competed in the bantamweight division.
- In 2019, he trained at Allstars Training Center in Stockholm, Sweden, he made his BRAVE CF debut and Badell gave birth to their son.
- On October 10, 2020, he made his UFC debut.
- In 2022, he competed in the lightweight division then went back to the featherweight division.
- In 2024, Badell gave birth to their daughter.
- On February 17, 2024, he became the UFC Featherweight Champion.
- On January 21, 2025, he turned 28.
- On April 12, 2025, he vacated the UFC Featherweight Championship title to move up to lightweight.
- On June 28, 2025, he became the UFC Lightweight Champion.
TIMELINE
From 2015 to 2025, Topuria fought 17 professional MMA opponents. Here are the results:
2015
- On April 4, 2015, he submitted Francisco Javier Asprilla at “West Coast Warriors” in Valencia, Spain.
- On May 9, 2015, he submitted Kalil Martin El Chalibi at “Climent Show MMA 4” in Alicante.
2016
- On May 7, 2016, he submitted Daniel Vasquez at “Mix Fight Events” in Alicante.
- On November 5, 2016, he submitted Jhon Guarin at “Mix Fight Events” in Valencia and became the MFE Featherweight Champion.
2018
- On April 28, 2018, he submitted Mika Hamalainen at “Cage 43” in Helsinki, Finland.
- On June 16, 2018, he submitted Brian Bouland at “Cage Warriors 94” in Antwerp, Belgium.
2019
- On September 7, 2019, he submitted Luis Gomez at “BRAVE CF 26” in Bogota, Colombia.
- On November 15, 2019, he knocked out Stephen Goncalves at “BRAVE CF 29” in Isa Town, Bahrain.
2020
- On October 10, 2020, he defeated Youssef Zalal via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 179” in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- On December 5, 2020, he knocked out Damon Jackson at “UFC on ESPN 9” in Enterprise, Nevada
2021
- On July 10, 2021, he knocked out Ryan Hall at “UFC 264” in Paradise, Nevada.
2022
- On March 19, 2022, he knocked out Jai Herbert at “UFC Fight Night 204” in London, England.
- On December 10, 2022, he submitted Bryce Mitchell at “UFC 282” in Paradise.
2023
- On June 24, 2023, he defeated Josh Emmett via unanimous decision at “UFC on ABC 5” in Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
2024
- On February 17, 2024, he became the new UFC Featherweight Champion by dethroning then champion Alexander Volkanovski at “UFC 298” in Anaheim, California, USA.
- On October 26, 2024, he successfully defended his UFC Featherweight Championship belt by knocking out Max Holloway at “UFC 308” in Abu Dhabi.
2025
- On June 28, 2025, he became the UFC Lightweight Champion by knocking out Charles Oliveira at “UFC 317” in Paradise.
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